E. Vengeyi, The Bible as a source of strength among Zimbabwean women ...most horrifying of physical violence, in many ways, is a manifestation of the
kind of language and approach that women face in everyday public life.^14Because of fear of dishonour associated with being raped, most of the
women do not report or speak about it. They suffer in silence. As re-
search has indicated, in most cases, women who claimed to have wit-
nessed rape were actually the ones raped. For most women, it is easier to
talk about rape that happened to another woman than to actually say ‘I
was raped’.^15 Thus, the statistics of reported cases of rape do not repre-
sent the actual occurrences of rape.
Violence intensified over the years since 2000 until 2009, and men as
both perpetrators and prime targets of political violence, left their fami-
lies into hiding leading to serious economic stress on the wives. In most
cases therefore, it was women who nursed brutalized husbands and
taking care of families and property in the rural areas.^16 It was their
responsibility as Musimbi Kanyoro puts it: ‘to deal with daily survival
issues of the family.^17
The burden became even heavier for women who happened to be moth-
ers, daughters and wives of political activists or activists themselves who
were constant targets for retribution,^18 especially in the rural areas than
in cities. Reports show that rural women were more likely than urban
women to report property destruction, displacement, rape, and torture,
whilst urban women reported assault, unlawful detention, and death
threats more frequently.^19
(^14) Alex Magaisa, ‘Politics and prejudice: plight of Zimbabwean women’, newzim-
babwe.com, accessed on 24 June 2010.
(^15) ‘When the going gets tough the man gets going!” Zimbabwean Women’s views on
Politics, Governance, Political Violence, and Transitional Justice. Report produced by
the Research and Advocacy Unit [RAU], Idasa [Institute for Democracy in Africa], and
the International Center for Transitional Justice [ICTJ]. November 2010 15, accessed
on 02 July 2011.
(^16) Preying on the ‘Weaker’ Sex: Political Violence Against Women in Zimbabwe, Report
produced by IDASA.
(^17) Musimbi Kanyoro, ‘Not Without Struggle: Changing Roles of African Women in the
21 st Century’ in Katharina Kunter and Jens Holger Schjorring, Changing Relations be-
tween Churches in Europe and Africa: The Internationalization of Christianity and
Politics in the 20th Century, Wiesbaden: Harrasaowitz Verlag, 2008, 219
(^18) ‘When the going gets tough the man gets going!” Zimbabwean Women’s views on
Politics, Governance, Political Violence, and Transitional Justice.
(^19) Preying on the ‘Weaker’ Sex:Political Violence against Women in Zimbabwe, Report
produced by IDASA; Kudzai Makombe, ‘Towards Parity for Women in Politics’, 23
August 2008. http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=43644; ‘Growing violence in